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Equality Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am very grateful to noble Lords who have spoken. I have to say that I shall ignore the notes that I have got in front of me because I want to say something slightly different. Noble Lords know how much I loath the idea of starting a list in any way, shape or form. I am very mindful of what the noble Lord, Lord Lester, said about ““other human rights””, which incorporates the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and many others to which we have been party; for example, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention Against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and so on. There are a number of them and I promise noble Lords that if we include one, there will be an amendment at the next stage and the one after to add others. If we include a list, that also means that when we sign new conventions, as I hope we will, the Bill will not cover them properly. So I am not inclined to go down the route of starting a list. However, I know that the noble Baronesses, Lady Howe and Lady Walmsley, and my noble friend Lady Whitaker feel passionately about the issue. I had a sense of déjà vu at some points but, as the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, knows, I am known for saying something slightly different from what people think that I am going to say. A genuine issue has been raised here which I want to go away and think about. It concerns ensuring that children get involved with the commission in the right way. I think that that is what is the noble Baroness, Lady Howe, seeks to do. At present, the noble Baronesses remain unconvinced that we will ensure that. I have no idea how to do that and I am not even sure that it is right to do it in legislation. Although I do not accept the amendment, I commit, between now and Third Reading, both to talk to the noble Baronesses and my noble friend and to ask our officials to think about how to ensure that children are not forgotten, without setting up either a silo or a separate strand of work and recognising that some of the issues that the commission will deal with will concern both adults and children and some will not be relevant to children. However, the point has been well made and I hope that, on that basis, the noble Baroness will feel able to withdraw her amendment.